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ALOHA CLASSIC WAVE CHAMPIONSHIPS – DAY 3

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Aloha Classic Wave Championships – Day 3

November 11, 2004Maui, Hawaii, USA

Paia, HI — Today was the third day of competition for the 19th AlohaClassic at Ho’okipa Beach Park, Maui. Media representatives from Japan, theUS, France, Austria, the UK and Germany as well as 300 fans and spectatorsat the beach and on the hill above the venue witnessed another day of trueAloha spirit and great windsurfing.

The day started with an increase of winds, gusting up to 20mph but slightlyoffshore and gusty. The wave height averages for the day were around 4′faces, with a growing swell as the contest progressed. To start off theOpen Women were run in the morning and advancing into the third round semifinals were Motoko Sato, Marie Gicquel, Tatiana Howard, Ann-Marie Reichman,Angela Cochran, Chihagi Chiu, Junko Nagoshi, and Jenny Schneider. The windwas really starting to increase and jumps were added to the repertoire,scoring two waves and one jump in the 10 minute heats, Sato and Cochran hadsolid victories in their heats and went into the final bustin big moves onthe waves and nice aerial off the lips. In the end, Motoko Sato from Japanwon the Women’s Open, ahead of Maui’s Angela Cochran, Anne-Marie Reichmannfrom the Netherlands and Jenny Schneider from USA.

The men’s masters saw well known sailors competing and putting on a greatshow. Putting on an amazing show on the waves was the hulking AndersBringdal from Sweden who made it looks like the waves were bigger than theywere and the wind stronger than it was. His aggressive style really threwhim into the front of the pack by throwing massively tweaked aerials off thelip. It was clear that he still had the champion windsurfer within. Not tobe out done Alex Aguera was clearly attacking at each opportunity with niceforward loops and smooth back loops. Anders at one point threw quite a stopaction stalled forward loop that had the crowd rising to its feet. Bringdalended on top, ahead of Maui resident Alex Aguera, Australian Luke Hargreavesand Yasuhito Ogasawara from Japan.

Luke Hargreaves (Australia): “It was great, really challenging conditionsout there, light wind and small waves, it was fun windsurfing. It was achallenge in the way as it was difficult to perform well and the best peoplewon. In my first heat I did a one-handed aerial off the lip. I was reallyenjoying it! The greatest thing is the whole spirit and atmosphere,especially with the kids being there to compete. They are the main reasonwhy I am here, it’s great that they go out and they really enjoy it. Youdon’t need perfect conditions to perform well; it’s an even bigger challengelike this. I am totally stoked about this whole event so far! By the way, Iwas taking it easy on Anders [Bringdal] and Alex [Aguera], I only had aborrowed production board and sail, but I can’t wait for next year, I willbe back with my own custom boards!”

Alex Aguera (USA): “It’s just like the old days, when we used to run inconditions like this and we had a great time. Many contests back in the olddays were under these challenging conditions and we always thought it wasgood. But then they started bringing in more and more rules and startedcanceling heats and competitions. I am much happier with this format we arehaving here at the Aloha Classic. The ASP surfing contests run in marginalconditions, that’s just the way it is and it’s cool! I really enjoyed today.Personally, I think my wave riding was better today than my jumps, I wasreally happy on my waves. All in all it was a lot of fun, I am running againtomorrow, and hope for another great day. What really inspired me, were thekids. They are just great and they already motivated more kids who were heretoday with their parents to start or improve their windsurfing. Even mydaughter, who normally likes surfing more, wants to start windsurfing nowhaving been here and seeing the kid’s rock today. What I like most aboutthis event is having all different age groups. Some of the Grand Mastershaven’t been competing in like 15 years. It’s cool to ride with guys I usedto compete with long ago, like early 80’s..”

The Women’s Masters Division was also started and had the heats showing somerivals from the Women’s Open Division. Kelly Moore was truly putting on ashow with her aerial maneuvers in the light conditions. She has notcompeted let alone windsurfed in quite a while and was quite inspired by herperformance. One of the events top women, Angela Cochran was really pullingout the stops in showing her dominance. This four time winner, and havingfinished second in the Women’s open didn’t stop Maui’s Angela Cochran fromchasing for more. She won the Women’s Masters Division, ahead of JennySchneider, Kelley Moore (US) and Francesca Tartaglia (Italy).

The Mens Open began with the best conditions of the day starting in midafternoon. Advancing into the second round so far includes: Josh Stone,Marco Bosi, Leo Ray, David Irwin, Kai Katchadorian, Sean Ordonez, JakeMiller, Baptiste Gossein, and Alex Aguera. Three more rounds remain untilthe cliff hanging Mens Open Final.

The 19th Aloha Classic Wave Championships will conclude tomorrow with thecompletion of the Men’s Open, the Men’s Grandmasters and the Junior Finals.An early start is planned with the early wind and waves expected.Competitors shall meet at 9AM at Ho’okipa Beach Park, Skippers meeting is at09.30AM. According to the forecast, wind as well as waves will increasecompared to today which should make it a great day to watch the final day ofthis years “revival” edition of the Aloha Classic.

The Aloha Classic is one of the longest-running wave sailing events in theworld. Since it’s creation in 1984, the Aloha Classic has been thetraditional final event of the Pro World tour. The top ranking internationalcompetitors are invited to the Aloha Classic along with top Hawaii athletesto compete side by side. The consistent trade winds and seasonally largesurf make the Aloha Classic the most popular destination of the windsurfingmedia, spectators and athletes. The Aloha Classic is the crown-jewel ofwave sailing events.

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